Sunday, January 1, 2012

Biodegradable plastic bags

Before you start to talk about the bags of biodegradableplastic , it is necessary that we stop to talk about, first of all bags plastic mostly used at present, i.e., the non-biodegradable.

Plastic bags contain a material called polyethylene resin, which is a product derived from petroleum. Given its composition, its degradation is slow in some cases reaching last 500 years to degrade. Or in other cases what happens is that it is disintegrating into pieces smaller, the result is millions of pieces of plastic that measure less than 5 mm.

The environmental consequences are really very worrying. It is estimated there are oceans between 3 and 5 kilos of plastic (millimeter size), for every square kilometer of water. This high level of contamination due to the non-biodegradable plastics (of which many contain toxic additives) leads to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of marine mammals every year and also affects thousands of species of birds.

Biodegradable plastics - in contrast to those who are not - They are made from natural polymers. You are called biodegradable that can be destroyed, degraded or metabolized by natural organisms, such as e.g. certain bacteria.

It is important to make clear, that even when its components are of diverse origin, these plastics have the same properties which are manufactured with oil.

Bags 100% biodegradable allow a complete degradation. The process starts after 18 months, therefore indicated in batch number that is imprinted with their date of manufacture to be aware of when it will expire.
Until that is met this year and a half of validity, the bag can retain under normal conditions without suffering any alteration of the structure or material. Therefore, it is a way that maintains 100% quality and resistance, but without generating a negative consequence for our environment.

Biodegradable bags are completely versatile they can be manufactured in different colors and sizes, position marks or legends, so that they are suitable for different uses.
Another advantage with biodegradable bags is that they can be recycled too, providing energy values similar to the plastic polyethylene bags.

The problem of plastic polyethylene bags extends globally. And here in Spain are not the exception. On the contrary, the third country more plastic bags consumed internationally. Nothing less than a few 250 plastic bags per inhabitant and per year.

This has brought a law which provides that for the year 2013, 60% of plastic bags manufactured must be biodegradable. This percentage rises to 80% by 2016. Finally, in 2018, all plastic bags must be biodegradable.